Dave’s Faves: #1 Songs in the 1980s

First posted 4/4/2020; updated 4/28/2020.

Dave’s Faves: #1’s: 1980-1989

September 18, 1982. I can peg my fascination with music charts to that date. After listening to a local radio station’s countdown of the hits of the summer, I decided to make my own list of favorites (see original list here). I ended up revising it every few days, eventually developing my own charts which I maintained into the ‘90s. I’ve also projected before and after those lists to create speculative lists of #1 songs for eras not covered by those original charts. You can check out those links here, but this page is focused on the #1 songs that might have been for me in the 1980s. 1980: Jan. 19: Pink Floyd “Comfortably Numb” (2 wks) Feb. 2: Pink Floyd “Mother” (1 wk) Feb. 9: Rush “Free Will” (2 wks) Feb. 23: Air Supply “Lost in Love” (3 wks) Mar. 15: Eagles “I Can’t Tell You Why” (2 wks) Mar. 29: Blondie “Call Me” (3 wks) Apr. 19: Charlie Dore “Pilot of the Airwaves” (2 wks) May 3: Lipps Inc. “Funkytown” (2 wks) May 17: Mac Davis “It’s Hard to Be Humble” (2 wks) May 31: Billy Joel “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me” (3 wks) June 21: Olivia Newton-John “Magic” (4 wks) July 19: Split Enz “I Hope I Never” (2 wks) Aug. 2: Peter Gabriel “Family Snapshot” (2 wks) Aug. 16: Queen “Another One Bites the Dust” (3 wks) Sept. 6: Peter Gabriel “Biko” (4 wks) Oct. 4: Kenny Rogers “Lady” (2 wks) Oct. 25: The Police “Don’t Stand So Close to Me” (2 wks) Nov. 8: Kool & the Gang “Celebration” (1 wk) Nov. 15: Air Supply “American Hearts” (2 wks) Nov. 29: REO Speedwagon “Keep on Loving You” (2 wks) Dec. 13: The Alan Parsons Project “Games People Play” (2 wks) Dec. 27: Eagles “Seven Bridges Road (live)” (3 wks) 1981: Jan. 17: Styx “The Best of Times” (6 wks) Feb. 28: Climax Blues Band “I Love You” (3 wks) Mar. 21: Styx “Too Much Time on My Hands” (2 wks) Apr. 4: Rush “Tom Sawyer” (3 wks) Apr. 25: Kim Carnes “Bette Davis Eyes” (2 wks) May 9: Stars on 45 “Medley I” (1 wk) May 16: Neil Diamond “America” (4 wks) June 13: Bruce Springsteen “The River” (2 wks) June 27: Squeeze “Tempted” (4 wks) July 25: Lionel Richie & Diana Ross “Endless Love” (2 wks) Aug. 8: Journey “Who’s Crying Now” (2 wks) Aug. 22: Foreigner “Juke Box Hero” (2 wks) Sept. 5: Soft Cell “Tainted Love” (3 wks) Sept. 26: Journey “Don’t Stop Believin’” (2 wks) Oct. 10: Sting “Message in a Bottle (live)” (2 wks) Oct. 24: Olivia Newton-John “Physical” (4 wks) Nov. 21: Foreigner “Waiting for a Girl Like You” (4 wks) Dec. 19: Triumph “Magic Power” (1 wk) Dec. 26: The J. Geils Band “Centerfold” (2 wks) 1982: Jan. 2: Queen with David Bowie “Under Pressure” (2 wks) Jan. 23: Joan Jett & the Blackhearts “I Love Rock and Roll” (2 wks) Feb. 6: Journey “Open Arms” (6 wks) Mar. 20: Alabama “Mountain Music” (4 wks) Apr. 17: Elton John “Empty Garden” (2 wks) May 1: Squeeze “Black Coffee in Bed” (2 ws) May 15: Sting “Roxanne (live)” (2 wks) May 29: Queen “Body Language” (3 wks) June 19: Steve Miller Band “Abracadabra” (2 wks) July 10: John Mellencamp “Jack and Diane” (4 wks) Aug. 7: The Alan Parsons Project “Eye in the Sky” (3 wks) Aug. 28: Van Halen “Happy Trails” (2 wks) Sept. 11: Olivia Newton-John “Heart Attack” (5 wks) Oct. 16: Don Henley “Dirty Laundry” (2 wks) Oct. 30: Toto “Africa” (6 wks) Dec. 11: Charlene with Stevie Wonder “Used to Be” (3 wks) 1983: Jan. 1: The Police “I Burn for You” (2 wks) Jan. 15: The Alan Parsons Project “Old and Wise” (4 wks) Feb. 12: Styx “Mr. Roboto” (8 wks) Apr. 9: Marillion “Script for a Jester’s Tear” (2 wks) Apr. 23: Pat Benatar “Anxiety (Get Nervous)” (3 wks) May 14: U2 “Sunday Bloody Sunday” (3 wks) June 4: The Police “Every Breath You Take” (8 wks) July 30: The Police “King of Pain” (7 wks) Sept. 17: Pat Benatar “Love Is a Battlefield” (4 wks) Oct. 15: Berlin “Masquerade” (1 wk) Oct. 22: Olivia Newton-John “Twist of Fate” (5 wks) Nov. 26: Yes “Owner of a Lonely Heart” (2 wks) Dec. 10: Journey “Ask the Lonely” (3 wks) Dec. 31: Paul McCartney “Pipes of Peace” (2 wks) 1984: Jan. 14: The Police “Wrapped Around Your Finger” (2 wks) Jan. 28: Nena “99 Red Balloons” (3 wks) Feb. 18: Genesis “Illegal Alien” (1 wk) Feb. 25: Yes “Leave It” (2 wks) Mar. 10: Night Ranger “Sister Christian” (1 wk) Mar. 17: Marillion “Fugazi” (1 wk) Mar. 24: Marillion “She Chameleon” (2 wks) Apr. 7: Styx “Music Time” (5 wks) May 12: Prince “When Doves Cry” (3 wks) June 2: Bruce Springsteen “Dancing in the Dark” (4 wks) June 30: Ray Parker, Jr. “Ghostbusters” (4 wks) July 28: Bruce Springsteen “Born in the U.S.A.” (4 wks) Aug. 25: Prince “Let’s Go Crazy” (2 wks) Sept. 8: Dennis DeYoung “Desert Moon” (6 wks) Oct. 20: Pat Benatar “We Belong” (1 wk) Oct. 27: Toto “Stranger in Town” (4 wks) Nov. 24: Don Henley “The Boys of Summer” (2 wks) Dec. 8: Tears for Fears “Shout” (2 wks) Dec. 22: Foreigner “I Want to Know What Love Is” (4 wks) 1985: Jan. 19: Don Henley “Sunset Grill” (2 wks) Feb. 2: Foreigner “That Was Yesterday” (1 wk) Feb. 9: The Alan Parsons Project “Let’s Talk About Me” (3 wks) Mar. 2: Sting “Moon Over Bourbon Street” (2 wks) Mar. 16: Simple Minds “Don’t You Forget About Me” (2 wks) Mar. 30: The Dream Academy “Life in a Northern Town” (2 wks) Apr. 13: Marillion “Kayleigh” (3 wks) May 4: Bruce Springsteen “Trapped” (2 wks) May 18: Hooters “All You Zombies” (2 wks) June 1: Bruce Springsteen “Glory Days” (2 wks) June 15: Dire Straits “Money for Nothing” (2 wks) June 29: Marillion “Childhood’s End?” (1 wk) July 6: Tears for Fears “Head Over Heels” (5 wks) Aug. 10: John Parr “St. Elmo’s Fire (Man in Motion)” (2 wks) Aug. 24: U2 “Bad (live)” (3 wks) Sept. 14: Squeeze “I Won’t Ever Go Drinking Again (?)” (2 wks) Sept. 28: Prince “Purple Rain” (4 wks) Oct. 26: Olivia Newton-John “Soul Kiss” (2 wks) Nov. 9: Squeeze “Heartbreaking World” (4 wks) Dec. 7: Bruce Springsteen “My Hometown” (2 wks) Dec. 21: Sting “Russians” (3 wks) 1986: Jan. 11: Tears for Fears “When in Love with a Blind Man” (2 wks) Jan. 25: The Alan Parsons Project “Stereotomy” (4 wks) Feb. 22: Tony Banks with Fish “Shortcut to Somewhere” (4 wks) Mar. 22: Dennis DeYoung “Call Me” (5 wks) Apr. 26: The Moody Blues “Your Wildest Dreams” (4 wks) May 24: Roger Waters “Folded Flags” (2 wks) June 7: Double “The Captain of Her Heart” (2 wks) June 21: Furniture “Brilliant Mind” (4 wks) July 19: Berlin “Take My Breath Away” (2 wks) Aug. 2: Tom Cochrane with Red Rider “The Boy Inside the Man” (2 wks) Aug. 16: Billy Joel with Ray Charles “Baby Grand” (2 wks) Aug. 30: David + David “Welcome to the Boomtown” (6 wks) Oct. 11: The Police “Don’t Stand So Close to Me ‘86” (6 wks) Nov. 22: Bruce Springsteen “War (live)” (3 wks) Dec. 13: Huey Lewis & the News “Naturally” (2 wks) Dec. 27: The Bangles “Following” (4 wks) 1987: Jan. 24: The Alan Parsons Project “Standing on Higher Ground” (4 wks) Feb. 21: Peter Gabriel & Kate Bush “Don’t Give Up” (4 wks) Mar. 14: U2 “With or Without You” (3 wks) Apr. 4: XTC “Dear God” (6 wks) May 16: Marillion “Incommunicado” (2 wks) May 30: Marillion: “Going Under” (2 wks) June 13: Indigo Girls “Hey Jesus” (1 wk) June 20: Suzanne Vega “Luka” (4 wks) July 18: Terence Trent D’Arby “Wonderful World” (1 wk) July 25: Marillion “Sugar Mice” (2 wks) Aug. 8: Marillion “Tux On” (2 wks) Aug. 22: Marillion “Warm Wet Circles” (3 wks) Sept. 12: Pink Floyd “Learning to Fly” (2 wks) Sept. 26: R.E.M. “It’s the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)” (2 wks) Oct. 10: Pink Floyd “One Slip” (2 wks) Oct. 24: Sting “Englishman in New York” (2 wks) Nov. 7: Sting “They Dance Alone” (4 wks) Dec. 5: Bruce Springsteen “Spare Parts” (2 wks) Dec. 19: The Rainmakers “The Wages of Sin” (3 wks) 1988: Jan. 9: Eurythmics “Brand New Day” (3 wks) Jan. 30: Lyle Lovett “She’s No Lady” (3 wks) Feb. 20: Lyle Lovett “Pontiac” (3 wks) Mar. 12: Kate Bush “This Woman’s Work” (4 wks) Apr. 9: Sting “Someone to Watch Over Me” (3 wks) Apr. 30: Everything But the Girl “Apron Strings” (2 wks) May 14: Tracy Chapman “Fast Car” (4 wks) June 11: Melissa Etheridge “Bring Me Some Water” (2 wks) June 25: Melissa Etheridge “Occasionally” (2 wks) July 9: Crowded House “Better Be Home Soon” (6 wks) Aug. 20: Rod Stewart “Forever Young” (3 wks) Sept. 10: Everything But the Girl “Oxford Street” (2 wks) Sept. 24: Everything But the Girl “The Night I Heard Caruso Sing” (1 wk) Oct. 1: Olivia Newton-John “It’s Not Heaven” (2 wks) Oct. 15: Shona Laing “Glad I’m Not a Kennedy” (3 wks) Nov. 5: U2 “God Part II” (4 wks) Dec. 3: Sting with Bruce Springsteen “Every Breath You Take (live)” (2 wk) Dec. 17: Bruce Springsteen with Sting “The River (live)” (1 wk) Dec. 24: The Bangles “Something to Believe In” (2 wks) 1989: Jan. 7: Guns N’ Roses “Patience” (3 wks) Jan. 28: Mike + the Mechanics “The Living Years” (2 wks) Feb. 11: Night Ranger “Reason to Be’ (2 wks) Feb. 25: Metallica “One” (5 wks) Apr. 1: Shona Laing “South” (2 wks) Apr. 15: Lyle Lovett “Nobody Knows Me” (2 wks) Apr. 29: Elvis Costello “Veronica’ (3 wks) May 20: Simple Minds “Biko” (3 wks) June 10: Simple Minds “Mandela Day” (2 wks) June 24: U2 “All I Want Is You” (2 wks) July 8: The Call “Let the Day Begin” (2 wks) July 22: Indigo Girls “Closer to Fine” (6 wks) Sept. 2: Tears for Fears “Sowing the Seeds of Love” (3 wks) Sept. 23: Melissa Etheridge “You Can Sleep While I Drive” (2 wks) Oct. 7: Squeeze “Slaughtered, Gutted, and Heartbroken” (2 wks) Oct. 21: Tracy Chapman “All That You Have Is Your Soul” (2 wks) Nov. 4: Madonna “Oh Father” (6 wks) Dec. 16: Tears for Fears “Woman in Chains” (3 wks)

Some Kind of Wonderful soundtrack released

Some Kind of Wonderful Various artists

Released: February 27, 1987 Charted: March 21, 1987 Peak: 57 US, -- UK, -- CN, -- AU Sales (in millions): -- US, -- UK, -- world (includes US and UK) Genre: alternative rock

Tracks: Act “Song Title” (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Pete Shelley “Do Anything” Furniture “Brilliant Mind” (1986, 21 UK, 15 CO) Blue Room “Cry Like This” Flesh for Lulu “I Go Crazy” (1987, --) Stephen Duffy “She Loves Me” The Jesus & Mary Chain “The Hardest Walk” The Apartments “The Shyest Time” The March Violets “Miss Amanda Jones” Lick the Tins “Can’t Help Falling in Love” The March Violets “Turn to the Sky” Total Running Time: 36:20

Rating: 4.008 out of 5.00 (average of 4 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: John Hughes was the master of the teen movie in the 1980s, including Sixteen Candles (1984), The Breakfast Club (1985), and Pretty in Pink (1986). His 1987 movie Some Kind of Wonderful didn’t reach the commercial levels of any of those, nor did it become as iconic, but personally I’ve watched it more than any movie except for Star Wars. The story line was largely a reversal of Pretty in Pink. This time the boy (Eric Stoltz) from the working-class family is swooning over the popular girl (Lea Thompson) who hangs out with the rich people, all the while unaware of the crush his long-time best friend (Mary Stuart Masterson) is harboring for him. The soundtrack didn’t feature a monster hit like Simple Mind’s #1 hit “Don’t You Forget About Me” from The Breakfast Club or O.M.D.’s top-5 hit “If You Leave” from Pretty in Pink. Instead it featured “a large number of unknown artists for the day.” SK Flesh for Lulu’s I Go Crazy was featured several times in the movie and, given its upbeat, catchy nature was the right choice for a first single, but sadly it went nowhere. Furniture’s Brilliant Mind had been a minor hit in the UK the previous year. Lyrically, the song perfectly captures Keith’s trepidation in acting on his unrequited love for Amanda. Throughout the movie, songs were “chosen with meticulous precision” SK to capture the moods of particular scenes. She Loves Me is a swirling, upbeat track which accompanies the scene when Watts helps Keith practice the perfect kiss. Cry Like This mirrors the dagger-to-the-heart feeling Watts experiences when Keith tells her he’s going on a date with Amanda. There were a couple of intriguing covers on the soundtrack. The March Violets redid the Rolling Stones’ Miss Amanda Jones, which was the name of Thompson’s character. The other two main characters were named after Stones’ members – Keith (Stoltz) as in guitarist Keith Richards and Watts (Masterson) as in drummer Charlie Watts. The Stones’ original version of the song, while not on the soundtrack, was used during a montage in which Keith and Amanda prepare for their date. Lick the Tins turned in a snappy, toe-tapping, flute-infused cover of Elvis Presley’s Can’t Help Falling in Love that resembles an Irish jig. The song runs over the closing credits, matching the movie’s feel-good ending as Keith and Watts walk off into the not-quite sunset. In addition to the Stones’ “Miss Amanda Jones,” there are other songs featured in the movie which weren’t used on the soundtrack, including Billy Idol’s “Catch My Fall,” Charlie Sexton’s “Beat’s So Lonely,” the Psychedelic Furs’ “Pretty in Pink” and the movie’s opening song “Dr. Mabuse” by Propaganda. It’s a shame the soundtrack couldn’t jump start with the same propulsive beat that kicks off the movie.

Resources and Related Links: SK SomeKindOfWonderful.org WK Wikipedia First posted 10/3/2020; last updated 8/22/2021.

Furniture hit the UK chart with “Brilliant Mind”

Brilliant Mind Furniture

Writer(s): Jim Irvin, Hamilton Lee, Sally Still, Tim Whelan (see lyrics here) First Charted: June 14, 1986 Peak: 21 UK, 15 CO, 14 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 1.08 video, -- streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: No song takes me back to my college days more than this one. Lyrically, it captured the woeful, yet universal, self-pity that adolescents and young adults often succumb to when navigating life and relationships. The opening line “I’m at the stage where everything I thought meant something seems so unappealing” was practically my mantra as an unfocused, question-it-all college sophomore. Of course, nothing was more gut-wrenching to a not-quite-twenty-something than failed relationship efforts. It was all too easy to wallow in the blame-game nature of the chorus, alternating between saying “you must be out of your brilliant mind” and “they must be out of their brilliant minds.” After all, how could I be the one responsible for my shortcomings? The song was a minor hit in the UK in 1986, but I didn’t hear it until the re-recorded version featured in Some Kind of Wonderful. That movie, written by the no-one-understands-high-school-more-than-me John Hughes, was a redo on his more popular Pretty in Pink. That film had the nerdy girl pining for the popular guy, but ending up with her even nerdier long-time friend who’d been crushing on her forever. Hughes, however, caved to audiences at early screenings who wanted her to end up with the rich stud and rewrote the ending. Dismayed by his decision, Hughes revamped the story line for Some Kind of Wonderful. This time the main character was Keith, a nerdy art student infatuated with a cheerleader while oblivious to his gal pal’s interest in him. The “sardonically wistful” WK “Brilliant Mind” surprisingly wasn’t the soundtrack’s centerpiece, despite its perfect encapsulation of teen angst. Musically, it sounds like a natural on ‘80s synth-pop playlists alongside new wave standards like Modern English’s “I Melt with You” and New Order’s “Blue Monday.” However, it came up short there as well, failing to reach the lofty classic status of its contemporaries, although ‘80s music icon Boy George declared it his favorite record of the era. WK The rest of the world may not have noticed it, but I did – and more than thirty years later I still can’t get the song out of my brilliant mind. Resources: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Furniture WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 10/19/2020; last updated 10/28/2022.